J  UN  :  '  1920 


BX  5917  .V8  N4  1920 
Neve,  Frederick  William, 

1855-1948. 
The  church  of  the  living 

waters 

/\/e 


THE   CHURCH    OF   THE--. 

LIVING   WATERS /^^'' 

f       JUN 

BY  ...  V^'V, 

FREDERICK  W.  NEVE 

Archdeacon  of  the  Blue  Ridge 


BOSTON 

RICHARD  G.  BADGER 

THE    GORHAM    PRESS 


r  n-M,, 


^^^7> 


V\  1920 


Copyright,  1920,  by  Frederick  W.  Neve 


All  Rights  Reserved 


Made  in  the  United  States   of  America 


The  Gorham  Press,  Boston,  U   S.  A. 


"Afterward  he  brought  me  again  unto  the  door  of 
the  house,  and  behold  waters  issued  out  from  under  the 
threshold  of  the  house  eastward."     ****** 

"Then  said  he  unto  me,  these  waters  issue  out  toward 
the  East  Country,  and  go  down  into  the  desert  and  go 
into  the  sea;  which  being  brought  forth  into  the  sea, 
the  waters  shall  be  healed,  and  it  shall  come  to  pass 
that  everything  that  liveth,  which  moveth  whither- 
soever the  river  shall  come  shall  live/' 

Ezek.  xlvii:    i,  8,  9. 

"He  that  believeth  on  me,  as  the  Scripture  hath 
said,  out  of  him  shall  flow  rivers  of  Living  Water,  but 
this  spake  He  of  the  spirit,  which  they  that  believe 
on  Him  shall  receive."  St.  John  vii:   38,  39. 

"And  he  showed  me  a  pure  river  of  water  of  life,  as 
clear  as  crystal  proceeding  out  of  the  Throne  of  God, 
and  of  the  Lamb."  "And  the  Spirit  and  the  Bride  say 
come,  and  let  him  that  heareth  say  come,  and  whosoever 
will,  let  him  come  and  take  of  the  water  of  life  freely." 

Rev.  xxii:   i,  17. 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  PAGE 

9 


I  A  True  Story    

II  Rivers  of  Living  Waters 

III  A  Vision 

IV  The  Meeting  of  the  Waters    . 

V  "Let  Him  That  Is  Athirst  Come  and 
Drink  of  the  Water  of  Life  Freely' 

VI  The  Spreading  of  the  Waters 

VII  A  Friend  in  Need  Is  a  Friend  Indeed 

VIII  A  Little  Child  Shall  Lead  Them 

IX  ''As  THE  Waters  Cover  the  Sea" 

X  The  Order  of  the  Thousandfold  . 


13 

20 

24 

30 

35 
40 

43 
48 

56 


THE  CHURCH  OF  THE  LIVING  WATERS 


THE  CHURCH  OF  THE  LIVING 

WATERS 


CHAPTER  I 

A   TRUE    STORY 

No  one  can  tell  how  far  the  influence  of  a 
Church  may  reach,  and  it  is  for  the  encourage- 
ment of  those  who  think  perhaps  that  their 
Church  is  situated  in  too  small  or  too  remote  a 
community  to  exert  an  influence  which  would  reach 
far  out  into  the  world,  that  this  story  is  written. 

The  history  of  this  particular  Church  goes  back 
beyond  the  Civil  War  to  the  early  forties. 

One  of  its  founders,  a  layman,  was  so  much 
interested  in  matters  belonging  to  the  Episcopal 
Church,  that  his  only  son,  brought  up  in  an 
atmosphere  of  reverence  and  love  for  the  Church, 
went  into  the  ministry,  and  the  tradition  passed 
on  to  the  next  generation,  as  four  of  his  sons  be- 
came clergymen,  and  two  of  them  were  afterwards 
raised  to  the  episcopate,  and  one  of  them,  a  mis- 
sionary bishop,  was  the  founder  of  an  entirely  new 
work  in  South  America.    So  that,  as  in  the  vision 

9 


lo        The  Church  of  the  Living  Waters 

of  Ezekiel,  a  stream  of  holy  influences  began  to 
flow  forth  from  this  temple  of  God  in  its  early 
days,  a  stream  which  has  spread  far  and  wide. 

Some  years  later  during  the  Civil  War,  it  was 
decided  to  move  the  Church  down  to  the  village, 
so  it  was  therefore  pulled  down  and  rebuilt  about 
a  mile  from  the  original  site.  For  some  twenty- 
five  years  it  was  a  blessing  to  the  community  in 
which  it  was  situated,  and  through  the  fact  that 
many  of  the  young  people  who  received  their 
religious  training  within  its  walls  went  out  into 
the  world  to  seek  opportunities  for  success  in  life, 
which  were  denied  them  in  their  native  village, 
the  influence  of  the  Church  was  extended  to  dis- 
tant parts  of  the  country. 

But  again  the  Church  was  pulled  down,  rebuilt 
and  beautified,  on  account  of  the  unsafe  condition 
of  one  of  the  walls,  and  the  desire  of  the  people 
for  a  more  churchly  building. 

Even  before  the  change  had  taken  place  a 
spiritual  movement  had  begun  in  a  small  way  like 
a  spring  of  water,  which  was  destined  in  after 
years  to  grow  into  a  river  of  blessing.  For  a 
young  minister  had  taken  charge  of  the  parish  in 
1888,  and  his  attention  had  at  once  become  at- 
tracted to  the  negected  condition  of  the  people  in 
the  mountains  near  by.  His  predecessor  had  given 
services  in  a  schoolhouse  in  the  mountains,  and  it 
was  in  taking  up  this  work  that  he  realized  how 


A   True  Story  ii 

much  good  could  be  done  in  this  neglected  field. 
And  so  he  determined  to  build  a  Church  for  the 
mountain  people,  and  in  about  two  years  suc- 
ceeded in  doing  so,  and  in  building  up  a  congrega- 
tion as  well.  And  so  a  stream  of  influence  flowing 
forth  from  the  Mother  Church,  reached  and  made 
glad  the  wilderness  near  by. 

As  the  years  passed  on  the  stream  of  influence 
grew  stronger  and  the  work  prospered,  more  peo- 
ple being,  year  by  year,  added  to  this  daughter 
Church  and  the  community  being  more  and  more 
improved. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  new  century  an  ad- 
ditional and  larger  stream  of  influence  began  to 
flow  forth  from  the  Mother  Church.  The  min- 
ister had  been  so  much  impressed  and  encouraged 
by  the  good  which  had  been  done  at  the  mission 
In  the  mountains  near  by,  and  had  heard  so  much 
of  the  great  needs  of  the  people  in  the  main  Blue 
Ridge,  he  determined  to  launch  out  on  a  new 
venture  of  faith  and  open  up  as  many  new  mis- 
sions as  possible. 

So  one  Sunday  in  November  of  1900,  he  held 
a  special  service  in  the  Mother  Church  to  in- 
augurate this  new  missionary  enterprise,  and  to 
commend  to  the  protection  of  Almighty  God  the 
first  missionary  ever  sent  Into  that  field. 
'  He  explained  to  the  people  his  plan  for  evangel- 
izing the  Blue  Ridge,  and  expressed  his  convic- 


12         The  Church  of  the  Living  Waters 

tlon  that  It  might  be  looked  upon  as  a  spiritual 
movement,  which  beginning  in  a  small  way  would 
eventually  become  far  reaching  in  its  beneficial 
results.  This  service  of  inauguration  was  a  very 
impressive  one  and  may  well  be  regarded  as  a 
historic  event,  so  far  as  the  influence  of  the 
Mother  Church  is  concerned.  The  stream  of 
spiritual  influence  which  then  began  to  flow  forth 
from  the  Temple  of  God,  has  been  growing  in 
power  and  volume  ever  since. 


CHAPTER  II 

RIVERS    OF   LIVING   WATERS 

It  is  not  the  writer's  intention  to  follow  in  de- 
tail the  work  which  has  grown  out  of  that  first 
venture  of  faith,  as  it  would  fill  a  large  volume. 

It  must  however  be  borne  in  mind,  that  a 
spiritual  influence  has  been  going  forth  from  the 
Mother  Church  from  that  day  to  this,  which  has 
kept  it  ever  in  touch  with  the  most  remote  mission 
station  in  the  mountains. 

For  day  by  day  about  noon,  the  minister,  whom 
we  may  now  call  the  missionary,  used  to  go  up  to 
the  Church,  ring  the  bell,  and  hold  a  solitary  serv- 
ice, in  which  the  work  was  commended  to  the  pro- 
tection and  guidance,  and  blessing  of  Almighty 
God.  And  the  missionary  prayed  especially  that 
the  promise  given  by  Christ  in  St.  John  VII.  38, 
might  be  abundantly  fulfilled  in  his  case,  and  that 
rivers  of  living  water  might  flow  forth  from  him. 

We  may,  in  fact,  say  that  this  wonderful  prom- 
ise has  been  relied  on  and  its  complete  fulfilment 
'asked  for,  during  the  many  years  which  have 
elapsed  since  this  Prayer  Service  was  first  started. 

13 


14        The  Church  of  the  Living  Waters 

The  too  literal  translation  of  the  authorized  and 
revised  versions  of  this  passage,  has  doubtless  re- 
pelled many  from  its  use  in  prayer,  but  the  won- 
derful nature  of  the  blessing  promised,  attracted 
the  attention  of  the  missionary  and  he  was  de- 
termined that  he  would  gain  the  full  benefit  of  it. 
He  read  it  in  this  way:  "He  that  believeth  on 
Me,"  as  the  Scripture  hath  said,  "out  of  him  shall 
flow  rivers  of  living  water.  But  this  spake  He  of 
the  Spirit,  which  they  that  believe  on  Him  should 
receive ;  for  the  Holy  Ghost  was  not  yet  given,  be- 
cause that  Jesus  was  not  yet  glorified."  And  the 
pleading  of  this  promise  in  the  Mother  Church, 
day  by  day,  was  having  its  effect  far  up  in  the 
mountains  and  the  river  of  Living  Water  was 
gradually  finding  its  way,  farther  and  farther,  into 
the  dry  and  thirsty  places  of  the  land. 

When  the  first  mission  teacher  was  carried  up 
there  by  the  missionary,  there  was  no  schoolhouse 
to  teach  in  and  no  funds  to  pay  the  teacher,  except 
for  the  first  two  or  three  months.  The  idea  was 
to  gather  a  few  children  at  a  time  together  in  one 
of  the  cabins  and  make  a  beginning,  in  the  hope 
that  a  teacher's  Influence  might  make  an  impres- 
sion on  the  people  and  open  the  way  for  greater 
things  later  on.  But  on  their  arrival  on  the  moun- 
tain the  way  seemed  to  open  at  once,  for  the  first 
man  they  met,  as  soon  as  he  understood  their  er- 
rand, placed  an  empty  house,  which  he  had  built. 


Rivers  of  Living  Waters  15 

at  the  disposal  of  the  teacher,  and  here  for  some 
months  the  school  was  held. 

And  when  this  spring  dried  up,  through  the 
house  being  no  longer  available,  some  one  came 
forward  without  any  solicitation,  and  undertook 
to  supply  the  needed  school  room.  God  certainly 
seemed  in  those  early  days  to  be  working  hand  in 
hand  with  the  missionaries. 

One  morning  about  dawn  the  missionary,  who 
was  on  a  visit,  awoke,  and  from  the  window  of 
the  cabin  in  which  he  was  sleeping  saw  a  beautiful 
sight.  It  was  the  Lost  Mountain  which  rose 
towering  to  the  clouds  on  the  opposite  side  of  the 
valley,  and  It  was  glorified  with  the  rays  of  the 
rising  sun. 

The  light  blue  haze  which  hung  upon  Its  side 
was  suffused  with  the  rosy  glow  of  dawn,  making 
It  look  like  a  vision  of  the  New  Jerusalem.  The 
thought  which  came  to  the  missionary  at  that 
moment  was  this : — ^Why  should  not  the  Sun  of 
Righteousness  arise  upon  the  poor  Lost  Moun- 
tain as  well.  The  vision  was  soon  followed  by 
the  coming  of  a  deputation  from  the  people  of 
the  Lost  Mountain  to  ask  him  to  extend  the  work 
and  open  a  school  on  their  mountain  as  well. 

The  call  followed  the  vision  just  as  In  the  case 
of  St.  Peter  and  Cornelius,  and  the  river  of  in- 
fluence and  blessing  reached  farther  out  Into  the 
desert. 


1 6        The  Church  of  the  Living  Waters 

Then  came  another  answer  to  the  prayers  going 
up  day  by  day  in  the  Mother  Church  for  the 
spread  of  the  Living  Waters.  A  boy  of  sixteen 
or  seventeen,  inspired  from  childhood  with  the 
desire  and  longing  to  be  a  minister,  and  brought 
up  in  the  same  old  Church,  volunteered  to  go  up 
into  the  Blue  Ridge  for  the  summer  and  do  all 
the  good  he  could. 

At  first  the  people  rather  despised  his  youth, 
but  his  earnestness  and  zeal  together  with  a  con- 
siderable amount  of  personal  magnetism,  won  the 
hearts  of  the  people,  and  resulted  in  large  con- 
gregations, and  a  new  interest  in  religion.  The 
new  venture  of  faith — the  work  on  the  Lost 
Mountain,  received  a  good  share  of  his  time  and 
attention.  As  the  schoolhouse  had  only  just  be- 
gun to  be  built  he  held  services  on  the  mountain- 
side, the  people  sitting  on  rocks  and  logs  of  wood, 
while  lanterns  were  hung  from  branches  of  trees 
when  the  service  was  at  night.  The  interest  was 
intense,  and  the  people  were  deeply  moved.  On 
one  occasion  it  began  to  rain  and  the  young  mis- 
sionary suggested  to  the  people  that  they  should 
go  home,  but  this  they  refused  to  do,  saying  that 
they  would  rather  stay  and  listen  to  him,  even  if 
they  did  get  wet.  One  morning  very  early  he 
had  a  heart  to  heart  talk  by  a  great  rock  on  the 
mountainside  with  a  very  old  man  ninety  years  of 


Rivers  of  Living  Waters  17 

age.  This  man  had  been  a  great  fighter  in  his 
day,  and  was  notorious  for  his  evil  life.  But  his 
heart  had  softened  of  late,  and  this  quiet  talk 
with  the  boy  missionary  completed  the  work  of 
his  conversion,  for  just  as  the  sun  rose  on  the 
mountain,  the  light  of  the  Sun  of  Righteousness 
seemed  to  rise  in  the  darkened  soul  of  the  old 
man,  and  he  rejoiced  in  the  knowledge  of  the  love 
of  his  Savior.  And  so  there  came  a  remarkable 
fulfilment  of  that  early  morning  vision  when  the 
missionary  had  been  inspired  with  the  idea  of 
bringing  the  Hght  of  the  Sun  of  Righteousness  to 
shine  upon  the  Lost  Mountain. 

Yet  another  venture  of  faith  was  made  about 
this  time,  and  a  new  channel  opened  for  the  Liv- 
ing Waters  to  flow  through  and  reach  and  bless 
another  spot  of  desert  ground.  It  came  about  in 
this  way, — the  boy  missionary  made  his  home  with 
a  worthy  old  couple  who  sympathized  with  the 
work  that  was  being  done  and  helped  it  in  every 
way  that  they  could.  One  damp  and  disagree- 
able day  a  poor  young  woman,  who  had  sunk  to 
a  very  low  level,  came  in  out  of  the  rain  and 
damp  to  find  shelter,  and  while  there  she  ap- 
pealed to  the  young  man  to  come  over  to  a  neigh- 
boring mountain  and  hold  services  for  her  people. 
This  appeal  was  not  unheeded,  and  another  mis- 
sion was  started  In  this  way,  though  for  over  a 


1 8         The  Church  of  the  Living  Waters 

year  there  was  no  building  of  any  kind  for  the 
services,  and  they  had  to  be  held  in  a  grove  of 
trees  in  the  open  air. 

At  the  end  of  the  second  summer  the  people 
begged  for  a  school,  and  a  place  where  services 
could  be  held  all  the  year  round.  This  appeal 
could  not  be  refused,  as  we  had  already  gathered 
some  of  the  people  into  the  Church.  So  the  mis- 
sionary instructed  his  young  friend  to  secure  the 
necessary  lumber  and  arrange  with  some  carpen- 
ters to  do  the  work.  He  also  provided  him  with 
a  plan  for  the  building.  After  a  while  he  came 
down  to  see  the  missionary  and  told  him  that  the 
lumber  was  secured,  and  that  the  carpenters  would 
begin  work  on  the  building  the  following  Monday. 

This  brought  the  missionary  face  to  face  with 
the  problem  of  how  to  raise  the  necessary  funds 
to  pay  for  the  work.  And  here  again  just  as  on 
former  occasions,  the  Hand  of  the  Lord  mani- 
fested Itself,  for  on  the  very  day  on  which  the 
carpenters  began  the  work  he  received  a  letter 
from  a  friend,  saying  that  the  next  time  he  wanted 
to  build  a  school-chapel  he  would  be  glad  to  fur- 
nish the  money.  Just  as  the  waters  of  Jordan 
were  divided,  when  the  soles  of  the  feet  of  the 
priests  touched  the  water,  and  not  till  then,  so  it 
was  In  this  case,  the  help  came  just  at  the  hour 
when  It  was  needed;  for  God  works  hand  In  hand 
with  those  who  work  hand  In  hand  with  Him. 


Rivers  of  Living  Waters  19 

THE  MAN  OF  FAITH 

All  things  are  possible  to  him 
Who  has  the  faith  of  those  priests  of  old, 
Who  halted  not  on  Jordan's  brim 
Though  the  raging  waters  onward  rolled. 

For  they  bare  the  Ark  of  the  Living  God 
And  the  path  of  duty  was  plain  and  clear, 
Though  Moses  stood  not  with  uplifted  rod 
Yet  the  God  of  Moses  they  knew  was  near. 

So  the  man  of  faith  shall  not  daunted  be. 
Though  the  mountain  wall  or  the  raging  tide 
Seem  to  bar  his  way;  for  by  faith  he  shall  see 
His  Master  forever  by  his  side. 


CHAPTER  III 

A  VISION 

But  the  river  of  influence  had  been  flowing  and 
spreading  elsewhere  than  in  the  mountains,  for 
news  of  the  work  that  was  being  done  for  the 
mountain  people  had  gone  out  into  the  world,  and 
had  its  influence  there. 

An  address  by  the  missionary  before  the  Dio- 
cesan council  had  brought  the  Church  in  Virginia 
face  to  face  with  the  problem,  and  the  necessity 
for  doing  something  for  this  class  of  our  popula- 
tion which  had  been  neglected  for  generations. 

The  appeal  was  not  in  vain,  and  the  results  were 
far-reaching.  He  had  also  an  opportunity  of 
bringing  the  matter  before  a  meeting  of  the  Dio- 
cesan Auxiliary,  made  up  of  representative  women 
from  all  over  the  diocese.  A  great  deal  of  inter- 
est was  aroused  in  this  way,  and  so  the  rivers  of 
influence  went  out  in  all  directions. 

With  the  death  of  Bishop  Whittle,  the  Chief 
Pastor  for  many  years  of  the  Diocese  of  Virginia, 
came  the  desire  on  the  part  of  the  various  auxiliary 
branches  to  provide  some  memorial  to  him,  and 
it  was  finally  decided  that  it  should  take  the  form 

20 


A  Vision  21 

of  a  Church.  The  question  of  location  was  to 
be  decided  at  the  next  annual  meeting  of  the  Dio- 
cesan Auxiliary,  and  the  missionary  made  a  point 
of  being  present  that  he  might  plead  the  claim 
of  the  mountains  to  be  the  beneficiary  of  their 
proposed  act  of  loyalty  to  the  memory  of  their 
beloved  bishop. 

At  first  it  seemed  as  if  he  would  be  successful, 
and  he  felt  confident  that  if  the  Church  was  placed 
in  the  mountains  it  would  mean  that  the  women 
of  the  diocese  would  be  permanently  interested 
in  the  work. 

Things  however  did  not  work  out  as  he  had 
expected  and  it  seemed  as  if  he  was  going  to  lose 
the  object  he  had  striven  so  hard  to  gain.  An- 
other disappointment  befell  him  at  the  same  time 
which  it  is  not  necessary  to  dwell  upon.  The 
result  of  this  double  disappointment  was  great 
discouragement,  and  on  the  day  he  left  he  went 
into  the  chapel  close  by  the  Church  and  kneeling 
down  he  prayed  earnestly  and  commended  him- 
self to  God  afresh  for  the  work,  though  the  out- 
look was  very  depressing. 

All  at  once  he  became  conscious  of  a  vision  for 
which  he  could  give  no  natural  explanation.  It 
seemed  to  him  that  Christ  was  close  to  him,  that 
is  to  say  visibly  present,  and  at  the  same  time 
there  was  impressed  upon  his  mind  the  words 
which  our  Lord  spoke  to  Joshua  outside  the  city 


22         The  Church  of  the  Living  Waters 

of  Jericho: — "As  Captain  of  the  Lord's  Host  am 
I  now  come."  The  Light  of  the  Presence  was 
gone  as  in  a  moment,  but  he  was  sure  that  just  as 
He  took  command  of  the  army  of  Israel,  outside 
Jericho,  so  too  was  he  to  understand  that  the 
work  that  he  was  engaged  in  was  not  his  but 
God's,  and  that  he  was  merely  serving  under  Him. 
Some  years  after,  when  the  stress  of  circum- 
stances after  the  great  war  made  him  feel  a  long- 
ing to  be  able  to  strike  some  mighty  blow  for  the 
Cause  of  his  Master,  he  wrote  the  following 
poem,  the  latter  part  of  which  is  a  reminiscence 
of  this  earlier  experience,  though  the  vision  as 
described  above  was  not  connected  with  the  dawn. 

EXCALIBUR 

Lord,  give  to  me  Excalibur 

That  I  may  strike  some  blow  for  Thee 
Which  in  this  dark  tremendous  hour 

May  help  to  set  Thy  people  free. 
The  night  is  dark,  the  conflict  near 

And  I  have  neither  sword  nor  spear. 

'Twas  said  King  Arthur  would  return 

When  the  last  dreadful  battle  came, 

When  pagan  hosts  o'erspread  the  land 

And  all  the  world  was  lit  with  flame; 

But  Arthur  doth  not  yet  appear 

And  I  have  neither  sword  nor  spear! 


A  Vision  23 

A  light  shone  forth  from  out  the  dawn, 
It  glowed  as  doth  a  seraph's  wing 

And  near  and  nearer  came  until — 
It  was  the  Presence  of  the  King. 

What  recked  I  then  that  foes  were  near 
What  recked  I  then  of  sword  or  spear! 

"Thou  dost  not  need  Excalibur 

It  still  may  sleep  beneath  the  mere. 

The  mighty  blow  Mine  Arm  shall  give, 
For  I,  the  Lord  of  Hosts,  am  here, 

And  victory  comes  when  I  am  near 

For  I  will  be  thy  sword  and  spear." 


CHAPTER  IV 

THE  MEETING  OF  THE  WATERS 

It  often  happens  in  life  that  one  set  of  influences 
meets  and  becomes  merged  in  another  set  of  influ- 
ences, or  one  personality  is  strongly  influenced  by 
another,  or  the  influence  may  be  mutual.  And  so 
it  was  with  the  spiritual  adventure  which  has  been 
described  in  these  pages.  There  was  another  in- 
fluence at  work  other  than  that  which  flowed 
forth  from  the  Church  of  the  Living  Waters. 
This  influence,  strangely  enough,  was  hidden  and 
unperceived  till  chance  revealed  its  presence  and 
its  source. 

It  is  necessary  to  go  back  some  years  in  order 
to  trace  the  course  of  this  stream  of  additional 
influence  to  its  beginning. 

It  seems  that  a  good  lady  living  in  one  of  the 
towns  in  the  Valley  of  Virginia,  had  come  to  make 
it  her  special  work  for  God  to  visit  the  gaol  and 
read  to  the  prisoners.  In  this  way  she  became 
very  much  interested  in  a  certain  hollow  in  the 
mountains  because  there  were  several  men  in  the 
gaol  who  came  from  that  particular  place.  One 
of  the  prisoners  especially  aroused  her  pity  be- 

24 


The  Meeting  of  the  Waters  25 

cause  he  was  accused  of  murder,  and  when  his 
trial  came  off  he  was  condemned  to  die. 

She  labored  faithfully  for  his  conversion  and 
had  the  joy  of  seeing  her  work  crowned  with 
success;  for  before  his  death  he  had  repented  and 
become  an  earnest  Christian.  He  entreated  the 
good  lady  to  pray  earnestly  for  the  people  of  the 
Hollow  from  which  he  came,  and  that  God  would 
send  some  one  there  to  minister  to  them.  She 
gave  the  promise  but  at  the  same  time  told  him 
that  he  must  add  his  prayers  to  hers,  not  only 
while  he  was  still  on  earth  but  in  Paradise  as  well, 
and  this  he  pledged  himself  to  do.  She  kept  dp 
her  faithful  ministrations  to  the  end  and  had  the 
satisfaction  of  knowing  that  she  had  smoothed  the 
way  through  the  dark  valley  for  him  and  brought 
him  to  the  Light.  The  good  lady  remembered 
her  promise  to  the  condemned  man  and  to  the 
day  of  her  death  her  prayer  went  up  to  God  for 
the  people  of  the  Hollow. 

Later  on  there  was  another  man  from  the  same 
hollow  brought  to  the  gaol  and  in  his  case  too 
the  extreme  penalty  of  the  law  had  to  be  enforced. 
Her  work  of  mercy  was  just  as  successful  in  the 
case  of  this  second  prisoner  as  it  had  been  in  the 
case  of  the  first.  He  was  brought  to  repentance 
and  to  a  sincere  belief  in  Jesus  Christ  as  his 
Savior. 

By  this  time  the  good  lady  had  become  so  much 


26         The  Church  of  the  Living  Waters 

interested  in  the  forlorn  condition  of  this  moun- 
tain hollow  that  she  made  a  journey  there,  and 
visited  the  poor  man's  family,  which  consisted  of 
his  wife  and  several  children. 

Christmas,  near  at  hand,  was  the  time  set  for 
the  man's  execution;  but  the  good  woman  was 
determined  that  the  children  should  have  some 
toys  and  other  things  to  mark  the  Holy  Season, 
which  was  to  be  so  sad  and  terrible  a  time  for 
them.  Among  the  things  purchased  was  a  small 
tea  set  and  she  took  it  with  her  to  the  gaol  when 
she  went  with  the  clergyman  who  was  to  minister 
to  the  condemned  man  the  Holy  Communion.  She 
wished  to  show  the  things  to  the  man  that  he  might 
know  his  children  were  being  thought  of  and  their 
happiness  provided  for. 

When  the  Communion  was  celebrated  it  was 
found  that  the  chalice  could  not  be  passed  through 
the  bars  of  the  cell  door,  and  as  it  was  against  the 
rules  to  open  the  door,  the  difficulty  was  overcome 
by  the  clergyman  pouring  some  of  the  wine  into 
one  of  the  little  teacups  which  was  small  enough  to 
be  passed  through  the  barrier,  and  the  poor  man 
received  the  sign  and  assurance  of  his  share  in 
the  redeeming  blood  of  Christ  in  this  manner. 
The  cup  used  as  a  chalice  was  afterwards  sent 
with  the  rest  of  the  tea  set  to  the  lonely  home  in 
the  distant  hollow,  and  doubtless  brought  joy  to 


The  Meeting  of  the  Waters  27 

the  hearts  of  the  children.  And  so,  as  the  niece 
of  the  good  lady  has  since  beautifully  said,  the 
Holy  Grail  came  to  the  Hollow  in  the  Blue  Ridge. 
That  this  hidden  stream  of  Influence  was  min- 
gling with  the  other  influences  at  work  was  not 
known  to  the  missionary  till  some  years  later  when 
the  President  of  the  Woman's  Auxiliary  of  the 
Diocese  told  him  the  following  story.  It  seems 
she  had  been  on  a  visit  to  a  neighboring  diocese 
and  had  spoken  at  a  meeting  about  the  work  that 
was  being  done  in  the  Virginia  Mountains.  After 
the  meeting  an  old  lady  came  up  and  spoke  to  her. 
She  told  her  that  for  years  she  had  been  praying 

that  God  would  send  someone  to  S Hollow 

to  help  the  people  as  she  had  become  Interested  in 
that  particular  hollow  through  some  prison  work 
she  had  done  years  before.  One  day  not  long 
previous  to  this  meeting  she  had  picked  up  a  copy 
of  the  ''Spirit  of  Missions,"  and  turning  over  the 
pages  her  attention  was  attracted  by  the  picture 
of    a    Church,    the    Inscription   underneath    being 

W Memorial  Chapel,  In  S Hollow.  She 

said  her  eyes  filled  with  tears  and  the  name  shone 
out  as  If  written  In  letters  of  gold,  for  it  was  the 
very  place  that  she  had  been  praying  so  earnestly 
for  through  many  years,  and  perhaps  her  prayers 
had  been  helped  by  those  of  the  pardoned  criminal 
'in  Paradise. 


28         The  Church  of  the  Living  Waters 

At  any  rate  she  knew  the  prayers  had  been  an- 
swered, and  that  God  had  sent  some  servant  of 
His  to  the  Hollow. 

The  missionary  when  he  heard  the  story  won- 
dered; for  this  was  the  first  time  he  had  ever 
suspected  the  existence  of  this  other  stream  of 
holy  influence,  and  it  was  not  till  some  years  later 
that  he  came  into  possession  of  the  full  story  as 
related  in  the  early  part  of  this  chapter. 

What  he  heard,  however,  threw  light  upon  the 
circumstances  under  which  he  had  first  gone  up 
into  the  Hollow  and  staked  out  a  claim,  as  it  were, 
for  the  Lord  Christ.  He  was  In  very  poor  health 
and  suffered  acutely  from  nervous  dyspepsia.  But 
there  seemed  to  be  such  an  urgency  In  the  call  and 
he  became  so  possessed  with  the  Idea  that  work 
must  be  opened  up  In  this  particular  Hollow,  that 
he  felt  as  if  he  must  go. 

The  journey  up  there  was  a  long  one,  and  was 
made  In  a  buggy,  part  of  the  way  being  over  a 
very  rough  road.  The  heat  was  intense,  and  he 
had  suffered  from  a  severe  attack  the  night  be- 
fore, of  the  malady  from  which  he  was  suffering, 
and  he  felt  uncertain  whether  he  would  live 
through  the  trip.  As  he  looked  back  upon  that 
time  he  realized  that  there  must  have  been  a 
mighty  Influence  at  work  to  constrain  him  to  make 
the  attempt,  but  now  the  secret  was  revealed.  The 


The  Meeting  of  the  Waters  29 

power  of  prayer  was  at  work  and  its  influence 
prevailed. 

Other  wonders  were  brought  about  by  the  same 
means.  When  the  missionary  first  started  his  mis- 
sion work  up  there,  it  was  considered  unsafe  to 
hold  any  Christmas  service  at  all  as  the  only  idea 
which  the  people  had  of  this  holy  season  was  that 
it  was  a  time  for  drinking  and  fighting,  for  as  one 
person  remarked,  "The  men  are  very  wild  up 
here." 

It  may  be  said,  however,  that  a  Christmas  tree 
was  held  in  spite  of  the  warning. 

Some  years  later,  however,  a  great  change  had 
taken  place,  as  when  Christmas  Day  came  some 
of  the  people  got  up  at  two  o'clock  in  the  morning 
and  walked  three  miles  through  the  snow  in  order 
that  they  might  partake  of  the  Body  and  Blood 
of  our  Lord  at  the  Memorial  Church  in  the 
Hollow. 

Years  before  at  the  same  Christmas  season,  the 
condemned  criminal  from  this  Hollow  had  re- 
ceived the  same  Holy  Food,  and  the  cup  out  of 
which  he  had  drunk  the  wine  had  been  sent  to 
his  home  in  the  Hollow  to  be  the  forerunner  of 
the  better  Christmas  to  come  when  his  own  people 
should  partake  of  the  same  Holy  Feast. 


CHAPTER  V 

"let  him  that  is  athirst  come  and  drink 

OF  THE  WATER  OF  LIFE  FREELY" 

One  of  the  most  striking  things  in  connection 
with  the  work  has  been  from  the  very  first,  the 
thirst  of  the  people  for  the  Living  Water  which 
was  brought  to  them. 

On  one  occasion  the  missionary  was  returning 
from  a  visit  to  the  Lost  Mountain  over  twenty 
miles  from  his  home,  when  he  overtook  a  poor 
woman  who  was  walking  along  the  road.  He 
offered  her  a  ride  in  his  buggy,  which  she  gladly 
availed  herself  of.  He  soon  found  that  she  had 
been  present  at  a  service  he  had  held  the  day  be- 
fore and  that  in  order  to  be  there  she  had  walked 
for  a  whole  day,  and  that  it  would  take  her  a 
whole  day  to  walk  home. 

It  seemed  she  had  formerly  lived  on  the  Lost 
Mountain  but  had  moved  away  to  some  distance. 
She  was,  however,  anxious  to  be  present  at  the  ser- 
vice and  so  had  made  the  journey  on  foot. 

The  missionary  had  also  once  had  a  service 
when  the  people  were  so  loth  to  leave  that  he 
delivered  three  addresses,  one  after  the  other,  be- 

30 


'^Conie  and  Drink  of  the  Water  of  Life^'       31 

fore  they  would  go  home.  It  was  thirsty  desert 
soil  to  which  the  Living  Water  was  brought,  and 
it  drank  it  in  eagerly. 

But  this  thirst  for  the  knowledge  of  God  was 
manifested  more  particularly,  by  the  coming  of 
ambassadors  from  other  communities  farther  off 
in  the  wilderness  begging  and  entreating  the  mis- 
sionary and  his  helpers  to  extend  their  work  so 
that  they  and  their  people  might  have  a  share  in 
the  blessing.  The  spread  of  the  work  has  been 
due  in  a  great  measure  to  this  Macedonian  cry 
of  outside  communities. 

One  of  the  most  remarkable  of  these  appeals 
was  that  of  an  old  man  living  on  a  remote  moun- 
tain where  there  was  neither  school,  nor  church, 
nor  work  of  any  kind. 

A  summer  student  of  the  Virginia  Seminary 
had  found  his  way  to  this  out-of-the-way  place, 
and  to  the  home  of  the  old  man.  He  told  the 
student  of  a  dream  he  had  had,  in  which  it  seemed 
to  him  that  he  was  lost  in  a  gloomy  forest,  and 
that  he  tried  to  find  his  way  out.  Fighting  his 
way  through  the  thicket  of  briers  and  brambles, 
and  becoming  faint  and  exhausted  with  his  efforts, 
he  at  last  saw  a  light  shining,  and  forcing  his  way 
towards  it  with  his  last  remaining  strength  he 
came  out  into  the  open,  and  found  himself  in  a 
beautiful  world,  lighted  with  an  unearthly  glory, 
and  filled  with  music  and  singing  birds. 


32         The  Church  of  the  Living  Waters 

He  interpreted  this  dream  to  mean  that  he  and 
his  people  had  been  lost  in  the  darkness  of  sin  and 
ignorance,  and  that  the  light  which  he  had  seen 
was  the  light  of  faith  which  had  brought  him  to 
the  Truth,  and  that  the  beautiful  day  was  the  new 
day  which  was  to  dawn  for  him  and  his  people, 
through  the  coming  of  the  missionaries  there  in 
answer  to  his  appeal. 

He  promised  to  give  land  to  build  a  school- 
house  and  to  do  all  in  his  power  to  help  if  the 
Church  would  send  a  teacher  to  instruct  the  chil- 
dren. The  student  was  able  to  hold  one  service 
up  there  before  he  returned  to  the  Seminary  and 
there  were  between  seventy  and  eighty  people  pres- 
ent. The  good  man  had  to  wait  some  consider- 
able time  before  his  request  could  be  granted,  and 
in  the  meantime  he  became  very  ill  and  thought 
he  was  going  to  die.  There  being  no  minister  for 
many  miles,  he  told  his  young  daughter,  about  six- 
teen years  old,  that  she  must  baptize  him.  She 
having  been  in  the  habit  of  walking  over  to  a 
mission  school  some  miles  distant,  had  learned 
to  read,  and  had  been  given  a  prayer  book  by 
the  mission  teacher.  So,  as  he  insisted  upon  it, 
she  found  the  place  in  the  prayer  book  and  read 
through  the  service  of  Holy  Baptism,  performing 
the  rite  at  the  proper  place. 

Instead  of  dying,  however,  he  recovered  and 


^^Come  and  Drink  of  the  Water  of  Life"        33 

was  able  to  take  further  steps  towards  securing  a 
school. 

Hearing  that  the  missionary  was  expected  at 
the  nearest  mission  point,  on  a  certain  day,  he 
started  out  to  walk  over  there  from  his  mountain 
so  as  to  be  present  at  the  night  service,  which  had 
been  arranged  for.  Unexpectedly  the  missionary 
had  to  change  his  plans  and  was  not  able  to  come 
till  the  next  day.  The  old  man,  however,  ap- 
peared at  the  mission  and  was  greatly  disappointed 
to  find  that  the  missionary  was  not  there.  He 
told  his  story  to  the  workers  and  begged  them 
to  plead  his  cause  and  that  of  his  people  and  then 
sadly  turned  his  face  towards  home,  walking  the 
long  distance  through  the  forest,  after  nightfall. 

When  the  missionary  arrived  the  next  day,  the 
case  was  put  before  him  and  he  was  so  much 
touched  by  the  incident,  that  he  determined  to 
make  this  fresh  venture  of  faith  and  send  a  teach- 
er. If  one  could  be  found. 

The  old  man  proved  his  willingness  to  help  by 
promising  to  build  a  schoolhouse  at  once,  so  that 
it  would  be  ready  when  the  teacher  arrived.  A 
teacher  was  found  who  was  willing  to  go  up  there 
and  for  three  years  she  worked  among  the  people 
and  taught  the  children,  but  the  old  man  unfortu- 
nately died  before  he  could  carry  out,  fully,  his 
Intentions.     From  an  old  deed  found  among  his 


34        The  Church  of  the  Living  Waters 

possessions,  it  was  shown  that  the  land  on  that 
mountain  was  first  settled  in  1750  and  it  is  almost 
certain  that  there  had  never  been  a  school  up 
there,  until  the  missionary  was  able  to  open  one 
as  above  described. 

The  lady  teacher  was  succeeded  by  the  same 
young  student  who  had  held  the  first  service  there, 
some  four  years  previously,  and  it  is  his  intention 
that,  before  long,  the  dream  of  the  old  man  shall 
come  true  and  a  new  and  better  day  dawn  on  that 
mountain. 

The  incidents  so  far  recorded,  give  only  a  small 
part  of  the  history  of  the  work,  but  they  are 
sufficient  to  show  its  character  and  to  make  clear 
the  wonderful  way  in  which  the  Living  Waters 
were  spread  abroad,  bringing  blessings  wherever 
they  went. 


CHAPTER  VI 

THE  SPREADING  OF  THE  WATERS 

One  of  the  most  wonderful  things  about  the 
work  which  has  been  described,  is  the  way  in  which 
it  has  interested  those  at  a  distance,  and  thus  the 
Living  Waters  have  been  carried  to  the  ends  of 
the  earth. 

For,  in  the  first  place,  there  have  been  not  a 
few  who  have  received  their  first  training  as  fish- 
ers of  men  in  the  Mountain  Work,  and  afterwards 
have  gone  into  the  more  distant  mission  fields  of 
the  Church. 

Mountain  missions  form  one  of  the  very  best 
schools  for  the  training  of  missionaries,  because 
it  is  a  kind  of  work  which  brings  out  into  active 
exercise  and  expression,  every  gift  or  latent  faculty 
with  which  the  worker  is  endowed.  There  is  no 
such  thing  as  keeping  any  talent  laid  up  in  a 
napkin. 

The  varied  experiences  of  the  mountain  mis- 
sionary, and  the  fact  that  he  is  called  upon  to 
turn  his  hand  to  anything  and  everything  within 
the  range  of  human  possibility  renders  it  impossi- 
ble to  hold  anything  back  or  in  reserve.     What- 

35 


26        The  Church  of  the  Living  Waters 

ever  is  in  him  has  to  come  out  and  be  put  to  use. 
The  consequence  is  that  when  a  man  or  a  woman 
has  had  two  or  three  years'  experience  in  the 
mountain  work  he  or  she  is  ready  to  go  anywhere 
or  do  anything. 

One  young  clergyman  who  came  direct  from  the 
Seminary  to  the  mountains  soon  gained  a  reputa- 
tion for  knowing  everyone  in  the  county.  This 
feat  he  accompHshed  by  penetrating  into  the  re- 
cesses of  the  Blue  Ridge,  making  friends  of  people 
hidden  away  in  lonely  hollows,  and  ministering  to 
their  material  needs  as  well  as  their  spiritual. 

After  two  or  three  years  intensive  training  in 
the  mountains,  and  a  short  rectorate  in  a  North- 
ern city,  he  went  out  to  help  Bishop  Brent  in  the 
Philippines,  where  he  spent  five  years,  using  in 
that  far  away  field  the  experience  he  had  gained 
in  the  mountains. 

Another  young  man  who  started  in  as  teacher 
of  the  school  on  Lost  Mountain,  and  for  severaj 
years  helped  in  various  ways,  and  at  different  mis- 
sions, later  on  went  to  Alaska,  where  he  has 
served  for  some  years,  and  is  now  Dean  of  the 
Cathedral  at  Juneau. 

One  of  our  most  valuable  woman  workers  who 
for  five  years  devoted  her  time  and  strength,  at 
her  own  charge,  to  the  Ragged  Mountains,  gave 
the  last  two  years  of  her  life  to  work  among  the 


The  Spreading  of  the  Waters  37 

Indians  at  Ketchikan  in  Alaska,  where  she  laid 
down  her  life  for  the  Master,  by  overtaxing  her 
strength. 

Another  young  man,  a  medical  student,  spent 
part  of  one  summer  in  the  mountains,  and  became 
familiar  with  the  conditions  existing  there.  This 
experience  had  such  an  eliect  upon  him  that  he 
determined  to  give  himself  to  the  work  as  soon 
as  he  had  graduated.  When  the  time  came  he 
offered  his  services;  but  it  was  in  the  early  days 
of  the  work  and  we  had  no  funds  to  support  a 
doctor,  and  so  he  decided  to  go  to  China,  where 
he  has  been  doing  immensely  valuable  work  as  a 
medical  missionary,  for  a  number  of  years. 

A  couple  of  instances  will  be  given  now  of 
some  indirect  influences  of  the  work  which  have 
served  to  help  in  spreading  the  Living  Waters  in 
various  directions. 

The  missionary  had  been  taking  part  in  an 
Auxiliary  Day  at  a  town  some  miles  distant.  Here 
he  met  a  lady  who  told  him  she  had  a  message 
for  him  from  some  lady  unknown  to  him.  The 
message  was  to  the  effect  that  the  sender  had 
heard  him  speak  about  the  work  at  the  Episcopal 
Church  at  the  Virginia  Hot  Springs,  and  that  what 
she  had  heard  had  determined  her  to  go  home  and 
open  up  work  for  the  mountaineers  in  her  own 
neighborhood.     The  message  further  stated  that 


38         The  Church  of  the  Living  Waters 

she  had  carried  out  her  good  resolution,  and  that 
she  wanted  the  missionary  to  know  what  she  was 
doing,  and  that  her  work  had  been  a  success.  Her 
home  lay  In  a  different  State,  so  the  Living  Waters 
had  found  a  new  channel  of  blessing. 

Another  and  more  remarkable  Incident  may  be 
related  as  follows :  The  missionary  had  a  number 
of  years  ago  gone  to  a  distant  parish  In  another 
State  to  speak  about  the  work  and  try  to  awaken 
Interest  and  secure  help.  He  stayed  with  a  cer- 
tain family,  and  while  there  made  such  a  deep  Im- 
pression on  the  mind  of  a  small  boy,  through  his 
story  of  the  work  and  of  what  the  missionaries 
were  doing,  that  the  boy,  who  had  been  thinking 
about  the  ministry,  made  up  his  mind  then  and 
there  that  he  would  become  a  clergyman.  Neither 
he  nor  his  mother  have  ever  forgotten  this  Inci- 
dent. The  last  news  received  by  the  missionary 
was  to  the  effect  that  the  boy,  now  a  man,  had 
spent  a  year  or  more  In  China  doing  valuable  mis- 
sion work,  and  that  now  he  was  taking  charge  of 
the  religious  work  at  one  of  our  large  Universities, 
and  that  his  experience  In  China  had  given  him  a 
special  aptness  for  dealing  with  Individual  cases. 

In  a  letter  to  the  missionary  he  said: — "Two 
years  in  China  have  just  given  me  new  experi- 
ences in  bringing  people  one  by  one  to  Christ.     I 

am  at  P now  for  a  year,  working  mainly  with 

individuals.      Miracles    have    happened   already. 


The  Spreading  of  the  Waters  39 

Why  do  we  not  prove  the  miraculous  in  Christian- 
ity by  having  more  of  them  today?  My  prayers 
are  always  for  your  success  and  your  work.  A 
few  causes  are  always  with  me,  and  that  is  one." 


CHAPTER  VII 

A  FRIEND  IN  NEED  IS  A  FRIEND  INDEED 

The  missionary  was  fortunate  in  having,  in  the 
early  days  of  his  work  in  the  mountains,  the  sym- 
pathy and  help  of  a  young  lady  who  afterwards 
was  in  a  position  to  render  very  valuable  service. 
She  was  a  member  of  one  of  his  parish  churches, 
and  in  that  way  became  acquainted  with  the  mis- 
sionary work  he  was  doing  in  the  mountains  and 
became  much  interested  in  it. 

The  first  booklet  he  ever  wrote,  entitled  *'Light 
in  Dark  Places,"  was  intended  to  be  used  as  a 
means  by  which  she  could  interest  her  friends  at 
a  distance  in  the  work.  And  here  it  may  be  said 
that  the  literature  sent  out  from  time  to  time,  and 
more  especially  the  little  monthly  paper  entitled 
''Our  Mountain  Work,"  has  gone  all  over  the 
United  States,  and  has  been  read  by  many  thou- 
sands of  people.  The  papers  have  been  read  out 
at  auxiliary  meetings,  sent  to  friends,  and  some- 
times copied  into  other  papers  and  publications. 
They  have  made  the  work  known,  and  as  a  result 
a  great  deal  of  money  has  been  raised  for  it. 

But  to  return  to  the  good  friend  of  the  mission- 

40 


A  Friend  in  Need  is  a  Friend  Indeed       41 

ary  and  his  work,  already  mentioned.  Her  mar- 
riage to  a  man  of  great  wealth,  of  American 
birth  but  residing  in  England,  enabled  her  to 
render  much  greater  aid  than  had  been  possible 
formerly.  On  one  occasion  when  on  a  visit  to 
this  country,  she  helped  out  the  missionary  in  a 
large  way  by  getting  up  some  Tableaux  in  New 
York  City,  with  the  cooperation  of  her  friends, 
and  in  this  way  raised  a  large  sum  of  money,  a 
considerable  part  of  which  was  used  to  start  an 
Industrial  School  for  the  mountain  people. 

The  raising  up  of  this  friend  to  stand  by  the 
work  and  render  it  so  much  assistance  was  of  the 
greatest  help  to  the  missionary,  and  an  encourage- 
ment to  him  at  times  when  the  difficulties  were 
well-nigh  insuperable.  For  years  a  considerable 
sum  of  money  could  be  counted  upon  from  Eng- 
land, which  made  the  burden  of  raising  the  funds 
needed  to  carry  on  the  work,  very  much  easier. 

Strange  to  say  this  lady  who  was  so  closely 
identified  with  the  mountain  work,  and  whose  old 
home  is  situated  near  the  mountains  where  it  was 
first  started,  has  recently  been  brought  before  the 
eyes  of  the  whole  word  through  her  plucky  fight 
to  win  a  seat  in  the  English  House  of  Commons, 
a  fight  which  ended  in  a  great  victory. 

Prayers  have  gone  forth  from  the  Mother 
Church  that  as  she  had  been  a  blessing  to  the 
people  of  the  mountains,  so  too  a  blessing  might 


42         The  Church  of  the  Living  Waters 

always  rest  upon  her,  and  that  her  efforts  for  the 
good  of  others,  In  her  position  of  influence  as  the 
first  woman  member  of  the  English  Parliament, 
might  be  crowned  with  a  great  success. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

A   LITTLE   CHILD    SHALL   LEAD  THEM 

Back  at  the  Mother  Church  the  missionary 
kept  up  his  Prayer  Service  for  the  work,  and  the 
world  in  general,  every  day  at  noon.  The  bell 
sounded  forth  and  was  heard  for  a  long  way,  and 
was  regarded  as  a  call  to  prayer,  though  none  ever 
came  to  the  Church  to  join  the  missionary  in  his 
intercessions.  He  knew,  however,  that  there  were 
some,  he  knew  not  how  many,  who  made  it  a  prac- 
tice to  say  a  prayer  when  they  heard  the  bell. 

A  year  or  so  before  the  war  came  to  a  close, 
the  missionary  felt  that  the  time  had  come  to  pre- 
pare for  peace,  for  he  realized  that  the  war  after 
the  war — the  Spiritual  Armageddon — would  be 
even  more  decisive  in  its  effects  upon  human  his- 
tory than  even  the  conflict  then  raging. 

In  the  new  civilization  which  was  to  take  the 
place  of  the  old,  everything  depended  upon 
whether  the  principal  formative  influences  were 
spiritual  or  material. 

So  he  boldly  started  out  to  do  his  share  In  brlng- 

'ing  in  the  new  Heavens  and  the  new  Earth  by 

trying  to  build  up  ideal  communities,  in  the  place 

43 


44         ^^hc  Church  of  the  Living  Waters 

where  he  lived,   and  throughout  the   mountains. 

He  prayed  at  his  noonday  Prayer  Service  that 
he  might  be  made  a  thousand  times  more  useful 
than  ever  before,  reaHzing  that  the  difficulties  in 
the  way  of  the  New  Order  were  very  great. 

He  met  with  many  setbacks  and  apparent  de- 
feats, but  though  discouraged,  instead  of  giving 
up  he  plucked  up  courage,  and  prayed  earnestly 
that  his  usefulness  might  be  more  and  more  might- 
ily increased  till  at  last  his  prayer  had  come  to 
be  that  he  might  be  made  a  billion  times  more 
useful  than  ever  before,  and  he  determined  that 
this  prayer  should  be  kept  up  till  the  end. 

He  realized  that  they  were  Days  of  Destiny 
through  which  the  world  was  passing,  and  that 
there  was  an  opportunity  for  every  one  to  do  hero- 
ic service  in  helping  to  build  up  the  New  Order. 
But  the  months  went  on,  and  nothing  special 
happened  to  show  that  the  prayer  was  being  an- 
swered. % 

At  last  one  day  while  he  was  praying  alone  in 
the  chancel  of  the  Church  at  mid-day  after  he  had 
rung  the  bell,  something  strange  did  happen.  He 
heard  the  door  open  and  the  pattering  of  feet 
up  the  aisle,  and  to  his  surprise  he  found  his  lit- 
tle girl  of  four  years  old  kneeling  near  him;  she 
had  also  brought  her  doll,  which  was  made  to 
kneel  too.  So  they  were  all  three  kneeling  in  a 
row;  the  missionary,  the  child,  and  the  doll. 


A  Little  Child  Shall  Lead  Them         45 

Strange  to  say,  the  central  window  over  the 
altar  represented  the  Good  Shepherd  with  a  lamb 
in  His  arms;  so  the  Good  Shepherd  and  the  lamb 
looked  down  upon  the  shepherd  and  his  lamb 
nestling  by  his  side. 

It  afterwards  seemed  to  the  missionary  as  if 
the  child's  guardian  angel  must  have  brought  her 
there,  and  been  kneeling  there  too,  for  things  be- 
gan to  happen  which  showed  that  this  strange  re- 
inforcement was  more  powerful  and  effective  than 
outward  appearances  would  indicate. 

The  child  kept  on  coming,  and  when  the  mis- 
sionary was  away  from  home  she  would  go  up 
with  her  mother  and  help  her  ring  the  bell,  and 
would  then  kneel  down,  as  she  was  accustomed  to 
do  when  her  father  was  there.  The  doll,  however, 
soon  stopped  coming. 

The  Prayer  Service  was  a  simple  one;  the  mis- 
sionary and  the  child  kneeled  down  and  first  of 
all  he  placed  his  hand  upon  her  head,  and  asked 
God  to  bless  her  and  make  her  a  blessing  wher- 
ever she  went  and  as  long  as  she  lived.  Then 
they  prayed  for  all  missionaries  everywhere  and 
the  child  always  repeated  the  amen  fervently  after 
her  father.  Then  a  few  simple  words  were  spoken 
which  she  repeated  too,  such  as  for  the  poor 
people  everywhere,  and  the  sick  people,  and  the 
people  everywhere  who  had  no  one  else  to  pray 
for  them,  and  all  who  asked  to  be  prayed  for. 


46         The  Church  of  the  Living  Waters 

Then  when  the  prayers  were  over,  they  stood  up 
side  by  side,  and  the  missionary,  holding  the 
child's  hand  with  his  left  one,  extended  his  right 
hand  and  blessed  all  those  for  whom  they  had 
been  praying.  This  to  the  child  was  the  ceremony 
of  Blessing  the  World. 

This  incident,  a  brief  sketch  of  which  was  pub- 
lished in  the  little  mountain  paper,  afterwards 
found  its  way  into  a  religious  weekly  which  goes 
into  over  three  hundred  thousand  homes,  and  to 
almost  every  country  in  the  whole  world,  and 
doubtless  touched  the  hearts  of  all  who  read  it, 
and  perhaps  in  many  cases  revived  a  desire  to 
pray.  It  was  copied  from  this  weekly  into  other 
papers,  and  it  is  impossible  to  say  how  far  it  has 
spread.  Letters  came  too  asking  that  the  writers 
might  be  remembered  in  the  noon-tide  prayers. 
Word  came  from  far  away  England  that  an  old 
lady  over  ninety  years  of  age  just  hovering  be- 
tween this  life  and  the  next,  heard  the  story  read 
during  a  conscious  period.  After  hearing  it  she 
remarked  "that  little  child  will  work  for  God," 
a  prophecy  which  it  is  hoped  will  come  true  in 
due  time. 

The  children  too,  round  about,  heard  the  story, 
and  came  to  understand  that  when  they  heard  the 
bell  ring  it  was  a  time  to  pray,  for  children  as  well 
as  grown  people. 

One  child  at  the  school  near  by  could  not  be 


A  Little  Child  Shall  Lead  Them         47 

Induced  by  the  teacher  to  say  her  lessons  just  after 
the  bell  rang.  She  kept  perfectly  quiet  and  the 
teacher  afterwards  finding  out  the  reason  had 
noon-tide  prayers  for  the  school,  and  wrote  a  pray- 
er on  the  blackboard  for  the  children  to  repeat. 
Another  child  too  small  to  go  to  school,  and  liv- 
ing some  distance  from  the  Church,  would  listen 
for  the  bell  to  sound,  and  then  run  to  tell  his 
mother  it  was  time  to  pray. 

And  thus  the  coming  of  the  little  child  to  break 
the  loneliness  of  the  missionary's  Prayer  Service, 
helped  to  open  up,  as  it  were,  a  new  Spring  of  the 
Living  Waters  and  they  spread  all  the  farther  in 
consequence. 


CHAPTER  IX 

"as  the  waters  cover  the  sea" 

One  of  the  results  of  this  Prayer  Service  and 
the  desire  to  be  mightily  useful,  to  what  might 
seem  an  extravagant  degree,  was  a  quickening  of 
faith,  and  a  belief  in  the  possibility  of  things  which 
had  seemed,  or  would  have  seemed  once,  beyond 
all  limits  of  attainment. 

Any  chance  which  presented  itself  for  useful- 
ness was  gladly  taken  advantage  of,  the  mission- 
ary feeling  that  he  had  still  left  to  him  only  a 
few  years  of  service,  and  that  therefore  they  must 
be  taken  advantage  of  to  the  fullest  extent. 

During  the  Nation-wide  Campaign  it  did  not 
seem  to  him  that  any  hymn  had  been  put  forth  for 
use  in  the  Campaign,  and  as  it  was  one  of  the 
greatest  movements  that  had  taken  place  in  the 
Episcopal  Church  since  its  commencement  In  this 
country,  he  thought  that  it  should  be  marked  by 
some  hymn  or  battle  song  which  could  be  used 
to  help  in  stirring  up  enthusiasm. 

And  so  one  night  he  sat  down,  and  taking  some 
notes  which  he  had  already  set  down,  he  composed 

48 


*'As  the  Waters  Cover  the  Sea^'  49 

a  hymn  which  he  sent  on  the  next  day  to  his 
bishop,  then  at  the  General  Convention. 

To  his  great  pleasure  and  satisfaction  a  few 
days  later  he  received  the  news  that  the  hymn  had 
been  welcomed  and  would  be  sung  at  the  General 
Convention.  And  so  on  October  15,  19 19,  during 
a  joint  session  of  both  houses  in  connection  with 
the  Nation-wide  Campaign,  a  session  which  was 
afterwards  described  as  being  the  most  remark- 
able that  had  ever  taken  place  in  the  history  of 
the  Church  in  America,  the  hymn  was  sung,  and 
the  missionary  afterwards  hoped  that  his  prayers 
had  been  answered,  and  that  the  hymn  might  have 
helped  in  however  slight  a  measure  to  give  to  the 
meeting  the  inspiration  by  which  it  seemed  to  have 
been  marked.  For  he  had  prayed  very  earnestly 
during  the  night  immediately  previous  to  this  meet- 
ing, that  the  hymn  might  be  used  by  God  to  help 
the  movement,  and  his  faith  in  prayer  had  become 
very  greatly  strengthened  by  some  significant 
things  which  had  happened,  and  which  seemed  to 
him  to  have  grown  out  of  this  earnest  desire  of 
his  to  be  made  useful  to  God  and  His  Church. 

Many  years  before,  the  idea  had  occurred  to 
him  that  just  as  the  utilization  of  the  hidden  stores 
of  natural  energy  had  resulted  in  a  complete  trans- 
, formation  of  the  outward  circumstances  of  human 
life,  so  too  ought  it  to  be  possible  for  the  Church 
through  her  members  to  liberate  the  vast  stores 


50         The  Church  of  the  Living  Waters 

of  spiritual  energy  which  lay  ready  to  hand,  and 
use  it  for  the  benefit  of  mankind. 

And  this  idea,  which  had  lain  more  or  less  dor- 
mant in  his  mind  for  years,  was  revived  through 
the  influence  of  the  Nation-wide  Campaign. 

These  stores  of  spiritual  energy  seemed  to  him 
just  as  illimitable  as  those  of  natural  energy,  and 
the  promises  contained  in  the  New  Testament  put 
them  entirely  at  the  disposal  of  the  Christian  be- 
liever. The  "what-so-ever"  of  Christ  placed  no 
limit  upon  the  utilization  or  the  spiritual  resources 
of  the  Kingdom,  and  as  the  prayer  of  faith  was 
the  key  which  would  open  the  gates  of  this  treas- 
ure house,  any  believer  might  take  advantage  of 
the  opportunity. 

It  was  along  these  lines  that  the  missionary's 
mind  worked  at  this  time,  and  it  occurred  to  him 
that  there  was  a  chance  for  him  to  be  of  great 
and  lasting  service  to  the  Church  and  to  his  fellow 
men. 

He  had  been  praying  for  years  that  the  prom- 
ise of  Christ  might  be  fulfilled  In  him,  that  "he 
that  belleveth  on  Me,"  as  the  Scripture  hath  said, 
"out  of  him  shall  flow  rivers  of  living  water." 
He  had  also  been  praying  for  a  year  or  two  that 
he  might  be  made  a  billion  times  more  useful  than 
ever  before,  because  he  had  felt  that  in  days  like 
those  through  which  the  world  was  passing,  every- 
one ought  to  do  his  very  utmost  to  increase  the 


*^As  the  Waters  Cover  the  Sea'*  51 

measure  of  his  usefulness,  and  even  dare  to  experi- 
ment and  test  the  wiUingness  of  the  Almighty  to 
use  His  children  to  His  greater  glory,  and  the 
greater  good  of  mankind.  The  analogy  of  the 
utilization  of  natural  energy  and  the  illimitable 
possibilities  in  this  direction,  which  seemed  to  be 
before  men,  stimulated  his  interest  in  the  question 
as  to  whether  the  same  possibilities,  only  of  a 
greater  and  higher  kind,  did  not  lie  before  the 
Christian  Church. 

The  answer  to  the  question  seemed  to  depend 
upon  a  venture  of  faith — a  great  experiment — 
which  should  not  be  undertaken  for  his  own  ben- 
efit or  his  own  glory,  but  for  the  good  of  the 
Church  and  his  fellow  men. 

The  Church  had  been  busily  engaged  in  per- 
fecting her  organization  and  thus  distributing  the 
spiritual  energy  of  her  members  in  such  a  way  as 
to  render  it  as  effective  as  possible.  This  wiser 
and  more  intelligent  direction  of  the  Church's 
energy  was  true  statesmanship.  But  a  still  more 
important  need  the  missionary  felt  was  a  great 
increase  in  spiritual  power,  such  as  would  set  for- 
ward the  Kingdom  much  more  rapidly  than  ever 
before.  This  power  seemed  to  be  certainly  avail- 
able, as  the  New  Testament  promises  were  really 
Invitations  to  come  forward  and  draw  upon  the 
'Inexhaustible  stores  of  the  divine  energy. 

The  missionary  therefore  determined  that  the 


52         The  Church  of  the  Living  Waters 

rest  of  his  life  should  be  devoted  to  a  great  ven- 
ture of  faith  along  the  lines  already  laid  down. 
He  realized  that  so  far  as  doing  things  was  con- 
cerned, he  had  nearly  reached  the  limit  of  his 
strength;  but  he  knew  also  that  God  had  at  His 
command,  all  sorts  of  means  and  channels  by  which 
He  might  make  use  of  his  influence  so  that  it 
would  have  far-reaching  results. 

If  it  could  only  be  shown  and  proved  that  by 
the  prayer  of  faith,  spiritual  power  could  be 
brought  into  play,  on  a  much  larger  scale  than 
ever  before,  and  that  just  as  there  are  millionaires 
and  even  one  or  more  billionaires,  who  exert  a 
powerful  influence  by  means  of  their  material 
wealth,  so  can  there  also  be  spiritual  millionaires 
or  even  billionaires,  so  to  speak,  if  men  would 
gradually  exercise  their  faith,  so  that  it  would 
grow  and  increase,  until  they  were  willing  to  set 
their  minds  and  wills  upon  the  attainment  of  this 
end. 

He  realized,  however,  that  there  could  be  no 
chance  of  success  unless  such  persons  fully  under- 
stood that  growth  in  humility  must  go  hand  in 
hand  with  the  reaching  out  for  the  greater  and 
higher  usefulness;  and  he  knew  also  that  another 
condition  must  be  the  clear  realization  that  any 
power  gained  must  be  used  for  the  good  of  the 
Church  and  for  the  benefit  of  humanity  and  not 
for  any  selfish  purposes,  as  for  instance,  to  attract 


^^As  the  Waters  Cover  the  Sea''  53 

attention  or  to  gain  distinction  among  men.  For 
St.  Paul  has  made  clear  in  the  Thirteenth  Chapter 
of  the  First  Epistle  to  the  Corinthians,  that  the 
seeking  for  spiritual  power  for  one's  own  ends 
deprives  it  of  its  value  in  God's  sight,  when  he 
says:  "And  though  I  have  all  faith  so  that  I  could 
remove  mountains,  and  have  not  charity,  I  am 
nothing." 

But  on  the  other  hand,  if  with  childhke  faith 
and  a  humble  reaching  forth,  to  open  up  the  stores 
of  the  divine  energy  for  the  good  of  the  world,  by 
the  faithful  members  of  the  Church  throughout 
the  land,  the  Living  Waters  were  liberated  in  full 
volume,  the  words  of  the  old  Hebrew  prophet 
would  be  fulfilled,  and  "the  knowledge  of  the  Lord 
would  cover  the  earth  as  the  waters  cover  the  sea." 

HYMN  FOR  THE  NATION-WIDE  CAMPAIGN 

Dedicated  to  the  Bishop  of  Virginia 
Tune,  Aurelia 

The  Church  had  lost  her  vision; 

The  sheep  were  scattered  wide 
Seeking  forbidden  pastures 

On  every  mountain  side; 
The  world  was  full  of  evil. 

The  nations  in  dismay 
Beheld  their  hopes  fast  fading 

Of  a  more  perfect  day. 


54        The  Church  of  the  Living  Waters 

But  Christ  now  sends  His  Spirit 

With  power  from  on  high, 
And  e'en  His  feeblest  servant 

Shall  feel  His  presence  nigh. 
Rise  up,  ye  sons  of  Zion, 

No  longer  fear  your  foes ! 
He  hath  gone  forth  before  you 

Mighty  as  when  He  rose. 

Lead  on,  O  Christian  Bishops! 

Apostles  called  to  be. 
In  the  new  age  now  dawning 

What  visions  do  ye  see? 
Fear  not  to  tell  the  people; 

Sound  forth  a  clarion  call; 
The  people  look  for  leaders; 

Let  not  your  strength  be  small. 

Lead  on,  ye  priests  and  prophets ! 

Prove  to  the  full  that  grace 
Which  Christ  Himself  has  given 

That  ye  might  show  His  Face, 
That  so  the  people  looking 

May  never  fail  to  see 
Some  vision  of  His  Glory, 

Some  Hope  that  sets  them  free. 

Be  glad,  be  glad,  ye  people ! 
The  day  at  last  has  come, 


'*As  the  Waters  Cover  the  Sea''  55 

The  day  of  Christ's  Redemption, 

Let  not  your  lips  be  dumb; 
Tell  to  the  worn  and  weary, 

Tell  to  the  slaves  of  sin: — 
The  Church  at  last  is  wakened; 

The  Church  at  last  will  win. 

Be  glad,  be  glad,  ye  children, 

Hosannas  once  ye  sang. 
When  Jesus  came  in  triumph 

And  all  the  city  rang. 
Be  glad!    Ye  too  can  follow 

Him  who  was  sacrificed. 
Be  glad!     Ye  too  are  striving 

To  win  the  world  for  Christ. 

We  then  in  happy  chorus 

Sing,  Christ  our  Lord  to  Thee, 
With  every  power  awakened 

From  every  sin  set  free. 
We  know  Thou  are  before  us. 

We  feel  Thy  strength  within. 
Be  with  us,  lead  us,  help  us 

The  world  for  Thee  to  win. 

As  sung  at  the  General  Convention  of  the  Episcopal  Church, 
Detroit,  Mich.,  Oct.  15,  1919,  at  a  joint  session  of  the  House  of 
Bishops  and  House  of  Deputies,  in  connection  with  the  Nation- 
wide Campaign. 


CHAPTER  X 

THE   ORDER   OF   THE   THOUSANDFOLD 
'^A  little  one  shall  become  a  thousand.^'  Is.  60:22. 

In  meditating  upon  this  subject,  the  missionary 
felt  that  while  many  things  had  happened,  in  his 
own  experience,  which  would  fully  justify  him  in 
taking  courage  and  going  forward  with  his  ven- 
ture of  faith  for  the  good  of  the  Church,  there 
was  no  reason  why  it  should  not  be  carried  out 
on  a  larger  scale.  In  scientific  research  a  great 
deal  of  money  is  generally  needed  to  provide  the 
necessary  equipment,  before  the  investigation  and 
research  work  can  be  carried  out;  but  there  is, 
perhaps,  no  better  way  in  which  our  great  philan- 
thropists can  invest  their  money. 

Many  great  discoveries  have  been  made  in  this 
way,  which  have  resulted  in  untold  benefit  to  hu- 
manity, especially  in  connection  with  medical  sci- 
ence. The  rendering  available  of  the  illimitable 
stores  of  spiritual  energy  for  the  good  of  man- 
kind, is  of  an  entirely  different  character,  because 
man  himself  is  the  best  instrument  for  the  gen- 
eration and  use  of  this  energy;  he  has  been  created 

56 


The  Order  of  the   Thousandfold  57 

by  God  for  this  very  purpose,  and  has  all  the 
equipment  needed,  if  he  will  but  exercise  and  de- 
velop it. 

Any  child  of  God,  no  matter  how  humble  his 
sphere  in  life  may  be,  if  he  will  exercise  his  faith 
and  seek  earnestly  to  be  made  an  instrument 
through  which  the  divine  energy  can  work,  may 
certainly  look  for  great  things  to  come  out  of  it, 
even  if  only  a  small  part  of  the  influence  which 
has  radiated  out  from  him  be  ever  traced  to  its 
true  source.  And  so  it  has  seemed  to  him  that 
others  might  be  glad  and  willing  to  associate  them- 
selves with  him  in  a  society,  to  be  called,  perhaps, 
"The  Order  of  the  Thousandfold."  The  idea 
would  be  that  each  member  would  daily,  in  his 
or  her  prayers,  ask  earnestly  for  a  thousandfold 
increase  in  usefulness  to  God  and  man.  This 
would  not  mean,  necessarily,  any  increase  in  out- 
ward activities,  for  the  time  of  many  might  be  al- 
ready filled  up,  but  an  increase  in  spirtual  power 
and  energy,  so  that  what  is  done  or  said. might 
exert  an  influence  of  such  power  and  far-reaching 
influence  as  to  really  amount  to  a  thousandfold 
increase  in  spiritual  efficiency. 

It  is  true  that  there  are  a  large  number  of 
societies  connected  with  the  Church  and  that  peo- 
ple are  chary  of  adding  to  the  number  of  their 
responsibilities  of  this  kind;  but  if  this  object  was 
set  before  any  one  as  something  to  be  earnestly 


58         The  Church  of  the  Living  Waters 

desired  and  prayed  for,  it  would  add  greatly  to 
such  an  one's  power  and  usefulness  in  the  work 
of  the  society,  or  societies,  of  which  he  or  she 
might  be  a  member. 

The  Church  is  busily  engaged  in  developing  her 
organization,  her  machinery,  in  fact;  what  is  need- 
ed now  is  a  tremendous  increase  in  power  and 
God-given  energy.  This  power  is  lying  ready  to 
hand,  at  our  disposal,  just  as  the  natural  energy 
which  once  lay  unused  and  undreamed  of,  was  as 
accessible  and  as  available  as  now. 

The  faith  of  man  is  drawing  forth  from  Nature 
an  ever  larger  supply  and  is  seeking  all  the  time 
to  gain  a  more  complete  control  of  this  energy. 
Just  as  in  the  days  of  Christ,  so  now,  the  children 
of  this  world  are  wiser  in  their  generation  than 
the  Children  of  Light;  but  with  the  same  faith 
and  the  same  daring  spirit  of  adventure,  the 
amount  of  power  actually  gained  and  made  use 
of  in  the  Church  of  God,  could  be  enormously  in- 
creased. 

"He  that  spared  not  His  own  Son,  but  delivered 
Him  up  for  us  all,  how  shall  He  not  with  Him, 
also  freely  give  us  all  things."  If  this  does  not 
place  the  full  extent  of  the  divine  resources  at 
man's  disposal,  as  far  as  it  is  possible  for  them 
to  be  utilized  in  this  world,  and  in  this  life,  what 
do  the  words  mean? 

The  advantage  of  an  Order  of  this  kind  would 


The  Order  of  the   Thousandfold  59 

be  that  it  would  provide  for  a  much  larger  experi- 
ment than  would  be  possible  in  the  case  of  a  soli- 
tary individual.  It  would  also,  the  missionary  be- 
lieves, result  in  such  clear  indications  that  the 
divine  blessing  was  resting  upon  it,  that  it  would 
commend  itself  to  the  Church  as  worthy  of  a  much 
larger  extension. 

It  has  another  advantage,  viz. :  that  it  would 
be  free  from  all  party  bias  and  would  not  be  re- 
garded as  the  child,  or  protege,  of  any  school  of 
thought  but  could  be  made  use  of  by  all. 

It  was  along  these  lines  that  the  missionary 
worked  out  his  plan  for  the  Order  of  the  Thou- 
sandfold; and  the  Mother  Church  once  more  be- 
came the  centre  from  which  he  hopes  that  a  new 
and  greater  river  of  Living  Water  may  flow  and 
bless  the  world. 

THE   CALL   TO   THE   CHURCH   OF   GOD 

O  Bride  of  Christ!  beloved  by  Him, 

Why  are  thine  eyes  of  faith  so  dim? 

Dost  thou  not  know  His  mighty  power 
Is  thine  to  use  this  very  hour? 

The  world  In  awful  anguish  lies. 

And  heavenward  lifts  Its  pleading  eyes; 

Body  of  Christ — His  Hands  and  Feet — 
Thou  must  the  mighty  Issue  meet. 


6o        The  Church  of  the  Living  Waters 

Fullness  of  Him,  Who  filleth  all, 

Who  never  heedless  hears  thy  call, 

His  glorious  gifts  are  thine  to  share 
With  all  His  creatures  everywhere. 

O  Church  of  God!  why  dost  thou  deem 
His  promises  an  empty  dream? 

Shake  off  thine  unbelief  and  be 
His  Angel  to  humanity. 


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